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Prisoner Swap: First Photo Shows New Jersey WSJ Reporter In Release From Russian Captivity Prisoner Swap: First Photo Shows New Jersey WSJ Reporter In Release From Russian Captivity
Prisoner Swap: First Photo Shows New Jersey WSJ Reporter In Release From Russian Captivity Evan Gershkovich is a free man.  The 32-year-old New Jersey native was among three United States residents released from prison in Russia in on Thursday, Aug. 1, in what's being called the biggest prisoner swap between since 1991. Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and radio journalism Alsu Kurmasheva, were the prisoners released to American soil. The massive swap freed more than two dozen prisoners from six different countries. A photo shared by President Joe Biden to X shows the former hostages smiling, and proudly displaying an American flag, on an airplane. "…

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by Jon Craig & Cecilia Levine
News
Schumer, McConnell Call For Release Of WSJ Reporter, NJ Native Charged With Espionage Schumer, McConnell Call For Release Of WSJ Reporter, NJ Native Charged With Espionage
Schumer, McConnell Call For Release Of WSJ Reporter, NJ Native Charged With Espionage Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) can agree on one thing: they want reporter Evan Gershkovich, a Mercer County native, to be released after he was charged with espionage in Russia while reporting for the Wall Street Journal. The duo released a rare joint statement on Friday, April 7, calling for his release. Gershkovich was charged with espionage "in the interests of his country," according to Russian state media. "We strongly condemn the wrongful detention of U.S. citizen and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and de…

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by Sam Barron
News
13 Chinese Nationals Charged With Multiple Acts Of Espionage By Feds In Washington, NJ, NY 13 Chinese Nationals Charged With Multiple Acts Of Espionage By Feds In Washington, NJ, NY
13 Chinese Nationals Charged With Multiple Acts Of Espionage By Feds In Washington, NJ, NY Thirteen people, including members of China’s security and intelligence services, have been charged with trying to recruit professors and others in the United States to act as agents for their country, federal authorities in New York, New Jersey and Washington, DC announced. Tales of international intrigue include allegations that the defendants plotted to steal documents from a federal prosecutor's office to subvert a criminal investigation into a major Chinese company. Some of them are also charged in a spy-versus-spy encounter involving a $41,000 bribe in Bitcoin paid to an American…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Fair Lawn Native Gets 7½ Years In Russian Pot Bust, Becomes Pawn In Proposed Prisoner Swap Fair Lawn Native Gets 7½ Years In Russian Pot Bust, Becomes Pawn In Proposed Prisoner Swap
Fair Lawn Native Gets 7½ Years In Russian Pot Bust, Becomes Pawn In Proposed Prisoner Swap A 26-year-old Fair Lawn native was sentenced in Russia to 7½ years in prison for having a third of an ounce of pot in her bag, in what has become an international incident involving an alleged hacker held for the United States by authorities in Israel. Naama Issachar, who was born and raised in Fair Lawn before moving to Israel when she was 16, was returning there after a three-month trip to India this past April when police at the Moscow airport grabbed her as she boarded a connecting flight to Tel Aviv. Russian authorities prosecuted her on drug smuggling charges -- rather than simple pos…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Proud Tradition Continues: Hillsdale Police Captain Attends Prestigious FBI Academy Proud Tradition Continues: Hillsdale Police Captain Attends Prestigious FBI Academy
Proud Tradition Continues: Hillsdale Police Captain Attends Prestigious FBI Academy Hillsdale Police Capt. Sean Smith felt the wind of tradition at his back as he completed the 275th FBI National Academy Program in Quantico, VA earlier this month. The last officer from his department to attend the prestigious program was Lt. Vincent McCarthy back in 1975. Graduating from the FBI Academy program that same year was Smith’s father, Thomas, who’d been an officer in the 46-year-old captain’s Tenafly hometown. “It was pretty special that I was a second-generation legacy student,” Smith said. “That’s pretty rare.” The younger Smith joined the Hillsdale department in January 199…

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by Jerry DeMarco